The STAP budget is gone. This is what works in the Netherlands in 2026.
Short answer: STAP ended on 1 January 2024 and there is no individual scheme you can apply to in 2026. The longer answer is better than it sounds, because the strongest Dutch route into a course runs through your employer, the tax treatment is unusually generous, and it asks nothing of your provider. Here is the whole map, in order.
What happened to the STAP budget, and what stands in its place
No suspense: the STAP budget does not exist any more. It was a personal training subsidy of EUR 1,000 per year, executed by UWV on behalf of the Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid, and it ran for two years, 2022 and 2023. You applied in fixed rounds and spent it at providers listed in the STAP-scholingsregister. The last application round was in late 2023, the budget has been zero since 1 January 2024, and as of 2026 no individual scheme has opened to take its place. Part of the freed money was moved into SLIM, which is explicitly an employer-side scheme: companies apply, individuals cannot, so there is no counter for you to queue at. Why it ended is worth a fair sentence or two, because it is more useful than pretending the cancellation came out of nowhere. The scheme drew criticism for deadweight, meaning a large share of the subsidy went to training people would have done anyway, so the money did not necessarily buy extra learning. There was public and political argument about the labour-market value of part of the offer that made it into the register. And the evaluations published in 2026 found no measurable effect on participants' labour-market position after eighteen months. That is also why "when is it coming back" has an unpromising answer. Which leaves the question that actually matters now: how do you pay for a career switch in the Netherlands in 2026. The honest news is that this market is well served, but the money does not flow through a public desk for individuals any more. It flows through your employer, who can pay your course fees entirely tax-free without any accreditation requirement whatsoever. Through your transitievergoeding if you are being let go. Through your benefits authority, your sector fund or your municipality if those apply to you. And otherwise through a payment plan with us. If you are one of the many internationals working in Amsterdam, Eindhoven or elsewhere in the Randstad, note that the first two routes do not care about your nationality, your Dutch, or where your provider is based. The rest of this page is the map, ranked by what actually pays out, plus a short list of dead ends so you do not lose an evening to them.
For STAP itself: nobody qualifies. The scheme is closed. There is no waiting list, no delayed round and no hardship route. If a website still offers to help you "apply for STAP budget" in 2026, that page has not been updated.
If you are employed, this is your route. A Dutch employer can pay or reimburse 100% of course fees, exam fees and study materials completely tax-free through the gerichte vrijstelling for training in the werkkostenregeling (WKR). It does not even consume the employer's vrije ruimte, and since 2021 the exemption explicitly covers training aimed at a future profession, so a genuine career switch counts. There is no provider requirement of any kind. Full playbook: employer-paid training under the WKR.
If you are leaving, or being made redundant, your transitievergoeding is the money designed for exactly this: one third of a month's salary per year of service, statutorily intended to ease your move to new work. Arrange it before you sign, and your employer can pay the course directly. See using your transitievergoeding for retraining.
If you receive a benefit from UWV or your municipality, both have their own training routes: UWV for benefit recipients, municipalities under the Participatiewet. What is possible in your case, and which providers they are able to buy from, is decided by your werkcoach or klantmanager, not by us. Ask them directly before you enrol anywhere.
If you are covered by a cao, your sector probably has an opleidings- en ontwikkelingsfonds (O&O-fonds), and several regions run their own training schemes. Conditions and provider requirements differ per fund and per scheme, so request them for your own situation. It is worth the fifteen minutes it takes to check.
If you are self-employed (zzp) or run your own BV, course costs are normally deductible business expenses. Note the distinction that catches people out: the personal study-cost deduction in your own income tax return was abolished on 1 January 2022, so as an employee that route no longer exists. Have your accountant confirm before you budget around it.
Frequently asked questions
Is the STAP budget coming back in 2026 or 2027?
No individual training subsidy is open in the Netherlands in 2026, and there is no announced date on which that changes. We are not going to tell you to watch this space. Plan on the basis that your course gets paid from an employer training budget, from your transitievergoeding, from a scheme run by your benefits authority or municipality if one applies to you, or from a payment plan. If something new is introduced later, treat it as a bonus. Waiting for it is a poor plan for a career change.
Why was the STAP budget scrapped?
Three reasons that sit alongside each other. First, deadweight: a large share of the subsidy went to training people would have taken anyway, so the EUR 1,000 did not reliably buy additional learning. Second, there was sustained public and political argument about the labour-market value of part of the offer that ended up in the training register. Third, and decisively, the evaluations published in 2026 found no measurable effect on participants' labour-market position after eighteen months. None of that is a verdict on the people who used it or on the providers who were listed, but it does explain why no successor is being rushed out.
Could I have used STAP for a Code Labs Academy bootcamp?
No. STAP paid only for courses entered in the STAP-scholingsregister, and Code Labs Academy was not in it. That register vanished along with the scheme, so the question is now purely historical. The more useful question is how you get us paid for today, and there the news is good: the two strongest Dutch routes to us, employer payment under the WKR exemption and your transitievergoeding, impose no provider requirement at all. There is no register we need to be in. Your employer buys training from a supplier and we issue an invoice.
I am an expat in the Netherlands. Does a foreign, online provider count here?
It depends entirely on whose money it is. If your employer pays, or you pay, or the money comes out of your transitievergoeding, there is no accreditation question: it is an ordinary purchase from a supplier, we invoice you or your company, and whether we are Dutch or German makes no difference to the tax treatment. Your nationality and your Dutch are equally irrelevant, and our courses are taught in English. Public and collective money is a different matter. Dutch public routes and sector funds work with their own conditions and quality marks, from NVAO accreditation for funded education to the purchasing conditions that benefits authorities and funds apply, and these differ per scheme, so always ask them first whether they can buy from a given provider. Code Labs Academy is a German company with AZAV certification, which carries legal weight for public funding in Germany. In the Netherlands it is not a Dutch quality mark and buys nothing formally: at most it is a credibility argument in a conversation.
My employer said no. What now?
Ask for the reason in one sentence, because the three usual ones have different answers. If it is budget timing, ask for a place in the next cycle and choose a later intake. If it is the fear that you will leave, offer a studiekostenbeding, which is a normal and legally regulated arrangement in the Netherlands. If it is relevance, come back with the module list next to your team's roadmap. If the answer stays no, the course is still within reach: you can pay in interest-free monthly instalments, up to 60 payments directly to Code Labs Academy, there is a discount for paying upfront, and current discounts are listed on the site. If you want to start with a smaller commitment, the shorter self-paced courses with regular instructor meetings are a realistic entry point. See what is running in our catalogue.
I am on WW or bijstand. Will UWV or my gemeente pay for this?
They might, but that decision is not ours and we are not going to predict it for you. UWV has training routes for benefit recipients and municipalities can fund training under the Participatiewet, in both cases on an individual assessment of your situation and your prospects. Two things are generally true and worth repeating: these trajectories require approval in advance, so do not enrol before you have discussed it, and they carry provider conditions that vary per scheme and sometimes per municipality. So put the specific course in front of your werkcoach or klantmanager and ask whether they are able to purchase from that provider. We will happily supply the quote, the curriculum and the teaching hours for that meeting.
Get personalised advice
Looking for guidance on how to finance your bootcamp? Book a one-on-one consultation with our education specialists. We can help you compare discounts, payment plans, and financing partners, and, if you’re in the Netherlands, talk through common routes such as employer sponsorship (opleidingsbudget), sector O&O funds, SLIM for eligible employers/SMEs, UWV support (where eligible), or DUO’s lifelong learning credit for recognised programmes (where eligible).
